Caught in the Flames

Chapter One Hundred Seventeen

As always, none of this is mine. I'm just the perv who want to make our beloved Twilight characters swear, drink, and go at it like horny rabbits. This story will be a combination of love, suspense, some violence and steamy, sweaty sex.

Chapter 117

EPOV

I eventually fell asleep around dawn. My sleep was fitful, filled with nightmares of Bella being caught in the flames, being burned alive and I couldn't do anything to reach her, to help her, to save her. I woke up in a cold sweat, panting like I had run a marathon. It was sunny and the bed was empty. From the feel of it, Bella had been up for a long time. I heard her run up the stairs, bursting through the bedroom door. Her eyes were crazed. "Are you okay?" she asked breathlessly, crawling onto the bed. I shook the cobwebs, curious as to why she was freaking out. "You were screaming."

"I was?" I asked, my throat on fire. My voice sounded raspy like I had been yelling or if I had been caught in a fire without my gear. "I didn't know."

She maneuvered on the bed, straddling my waist and wrapping her arms around my neck. "I thought someone was up here, murdering you," she choked out, her nose buried into my throat. I snaked my arms around her tiny waist, pulling her ever closer. She sighed. Her fingers were massaging the base of my neck and I felt myself relax slightly, though I was still on edge. "Was it a nightmare?"

"Yeah," I said, my hands slipping underneath her t-shirt and touching her silky smooth skin. I needed to feel her, to make sure she was safe.

"Do you want to tell me?" she asked. I hesitated and bile rose in my throat. I couldn't relive that hell. I just couldn't. My imagination recreated the most gruesome death for my fiancée. My hands stilled on her back, a cold sweat breaking out on my neck. "Was the nightmare about me?"

"Yes," I choked out, squeezing my eyes shut. My memory of the nightmare was too fresh. I could see Bella's burning body in this room that I didn't recognize. I heard laughter and my own screams, sobbing for Bella to wake up. I didn't want to tell her. It was bad enough that I dreamt it. I didn't want her to obsess over it. I pulled her closer to my body, burying my nose into her hair. A few tears leaked out but I tried to maintain my composure.

"Edward, baby," Bella began, taking my face into her hands, wiping my tears away. "You don't have shoulder this alone. Please, talk to me? What was the nightmare about?"

"Losing you," I hissed, staring into her fathomless chocolate orbs. I left it at that and held her tightly. She pressed me back into the pillows. I kept her suctioned to my body as I tried to forget the hellish memories of losing her. We stayed like this until my phone rang on the nightstand. Bella picked it up, handing it to me. She rolled off my body and curled up to my side. "Hello?" I answered.

"Edward, it's Garrett," my boss said. "The arson investigator is coming over to your condo today at two if you want to be here."

"Okay," I replied. "Was there any other damage to the building or just my unit?"

"Your downstairs neighbor has some water damage and the couple next door has some smoke damage, but yours is charred," Garrett said, grimace clear in his voice. "Will you be there?"

"Yeah. I need to see what's salvageable and figure out where the hell I'm going to stay," I said, frowning slightly. "See you in a bit." I hung up and looked down at Bella. She was angry. Her hand was in a fist and she was nearly panting in frustration. "Bella?"

"Don't you want to stay with me?" she asked, her voice tiny and small.

"I would love to, but I didn't want to assume," I whispered, cupping her chin to encourage her to look at me. "I could stay with my parents or even with Alice."

"Stay with me?" she pleaded, her brown eyes beseeching me. "I just think that with everything going on ... I know that ... Please?"

"I'll stay, love," I said, running my fingers down her cheek. "But, I don't want to move in with you to be because I'm homeless."

"I never want you to leave, Edward. It felt weird when you stayed at your condo. Hell, it feels weird when you're at the firehouse," she snorted. "I don't want to fall asleep without you. I want to wake up in your arms. Yes, your condo burning is encouraging us to move in together sooner rather than later, but I honestly didn't want you to ever go back." She smirked. "I've grown quite attached to your snoring and hogging the bed."

"I do not snore," I huffed.

"Baby, I love you but you do snore," she giggled. I wrinkled my nose, making obnoxious snoring sounds and tickling her sides. She squirmed, kicking on the bed and laughing. I kept snorting like a pig in her ear, just to listen to her laugh. We eventually calmed down when my phone rang again. This time, it was my parents. They had heard of my condo going up in flames. They were meeting us at the building while I met with the arson investigator. Our distraction of my pig impersonation/snoring demonstration had been interrupted. The reminder of my destroyed condo now hung in the air. "Why don't you shower while I make you some lunch?" Bella said, kissing my lips.

"We're not finished talking about this moving business, Bella," I said.

"I know. After we meet up with Garrett and the arson guy," she replied. "We'll go from there." Bella gave me a soft smile, brushing my sleep-ravaged hair a tug. "But, I do want you as my new roomie. Snoring and all." She kissed me again before darting out of the room.

"I. Do. Not. Snore!" I bellowed, tossing a pillow at her retreating form.

A/N: Kind of a mix of emotions. Edward is, tentatively, thinking about moving in with his fiancée. He is having nightmares about Bella and we'll find out more about what happened in his condo. Leave me some!